Heart of a Punk Soul of a Rasta

Ornaments From the Silver Arcade
The Young Knives
Producer Nick Launay
Gadzook Records
Digital CD
No Matrix

12 Togs short of a Winter Duvet?

What do I want from The Young Knives? Well first and foremost I want QUIRK! Yes that's right QUIRK, go and look it up if you don't know what I mean or even if you don't mean what I know. Or you can buy "Quirk Out" by Stump then you'd get the idea aurally. Secondly I want humour, preferably of a very extremely silly spasy kind. And lastly I want The Young Knives to musically inhabit a space somewhere between "Natural's Not in It" by "Gang of Four" and "I Am the Fly" by "Wire". Perhaps I'm being unreasonable in wanting these things but that's just the way it is.

Unfortunately on "Ornaments" quirk, humour and Wire is not exactly what you get. The production is "lite" and yet not sugar free, and there is a dance thing going on, but I reckon only the Dad's are on the dance floor. So what gives? How have the Young Knives arrived here? Well I've just read their interview in "Art Rocker" magazine (which was very nice) but I'm still none the wiser.

The album starts off sprightly enough with "Love my Name" (Ahhh "There is no sound sweeter than the sound of your own name" who said that? Answers on a SAE to the usual address enclosing used tenner, thank you) it has a dance thing going on - like Hot Chip with guitars and with a slightly less limp wrist. But then along comes "Woman" which is really quite horrid, not just because it's a piece of drab 80's muzak (it could be Haircut 100 or Curiosity Killed the Cat) but also because it's dull pace totally ruins the flow of album.

After track two The Knives have a lot of work to do to recover. And in part they succeed. With "Everything Falls into Place", Running From a Standing Start" and "Sister Frideswide" they're on safer ground. The Young Knives are in their natural element here - it's immediate, it's early 80's New Wave, it's in your face. "Go to Ground" exemplifies what Young Knives do best (playing now) - House of Lords plumping for a heavy knit chunky bass line over an undulationing melody that gets straight inside your head straight under the skin - intravenous!

But after all this good work the horror returns again, this time in the form of "Silver Tongue". It's just the Pet Shop Boys! No sorry its' not just the Pet Shop Boys, it's just horrible! Why? Why? Why? The only thing that saves the LP from the truly naff moment that is "Silver Tongue" is that the track runs into "Storm Clouds" - a much more palatable Public Image Limited moment - if in doubt pull out a Johnny - it usually works.

What is it with these producers nowadays? Steve Lillywhite got Beady Eye to revisit The La's (whose debut he produced) on a couple of tracks on "Different Gear - Still Speeding". And now we have Nick Launay getting The Young Knives to revisit PiL here on "Storm Clouds" (Launay produced PiL on the Flowers of Romance LP). These producers are just getting too big for their artistic boots, they're only employed cos they know better jokes than the band............aren't they?

"Glasshouse" closes the album strongly enough with a few well chosen expletives and the one liner "She's the apple of my eye she fills me up like Shepherds Pie", but overall "Ornaments From the Silver Arcade" doesn't have enough humour or quirk about it and it's definitely not a cohesive album, more a collection of tracks. Neither does it take you on a idiosyncratic journey through all things post punk new wave and indie like "Voices of Animals and Men" and "Superabundance" did. And it doesn't face punch you into revelatory new place either.

So should The Young Knives be applauded for attempting to kick their thing onto somewhere new? Perhaps they should. But for me with "Ornaments" YK have moved to a place I don't wish to go, and this is the age old musical problem. How do you expand your musically bag without alienating your existing punters? It's a rare and difficult trick to pull off. It's akin to turning a GAS into a SOLID, which we all know is know as subliming. Unfortunately "Ornaments from the Silver Arcade" is not a totally sublime thing and this is a right royal pisser cos in their natural element the world most definately needs The Young Knives.

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In the meantime let me leave you with this important information "Love My Name" by YKs opens with the line "If you had a crystal ball you would look in it I know". Well gentlemen, if you do actually have a crystal ball, please remember always always sit down very very carefully. Goodnight.